McLaren warned 2025 team orders could replicate Ferrari’s infamous ‘sad’ Michael Schumacher fiasco

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McLaren have caused controversy with team orders since they began intervening with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in 2024. That has continued this season, with the Italian Grand Prix causing outrage.

McLaren introduced ‘papaya rules’ in 2024 to keep things fair between their drivers on track. The team orders favoured Norris in his bid to win the title, but he lost out to Max Verstappen.

During the season, ‘papaya rules’ caused major controversy in the paddock, notably the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix, when Norris was instructed to give the win to Piastri after McLaren allowed him to get undercut in the pits.

The roles reversed at the Italian Grand Prix in 2025, as Norris was undercut by Piastri after a slow stop. McLaren told the Aussie to give the place back, with the Brit finishing second and cutting his teammate’s lead in the championship down to 31 points.

Andrea Stella said Norris’ DNF at Zandvoort was unrelated to the team’s decision at Monza. Nevertheless, F1 fans were outraged with McLaren on social media, blasting the team for their treatment of Piastri.

Jolyon Palmer sent a warning to McLaren about how Monza could affect how they race in future events. The team have now been told they are heading in the same direction as Ferrari back in 2002.

McLaren warned their team orders could replicate Ferrari’s infamous ‘mess’ with Michael Schumacher in 2002 in Austria

Team orders in F1 have always been a controversial topic. The worst example of it was at the 2002 Austria Grand Prix, when Ferrari instructed Rubens Barrichello to hand the win to Michael Schumacher on the final lap, despite having led most of the race.

The backlash that followed resulted in team orders being banned in F1. Robert Doornbos thinks McLaren could end up replicating Ferrari’s ‘mess’ in Austria.

“It feels, as a fan, that you’re robbed. The worst situations we’ve ever seen was obviously Ferrari and in the Michael Schumacher era with Rubens Barrichello, driving his a—off in Austria,” he said on The Pit Talk Podcast.

“Almost winning for Ferrari, because Jean Todt then came on the radio and said: ‘Give the position to Michael’. But Michael was already leading the world championship with, I don’t know how many points, so it made no sense.

“But that was sad, because then the fans started booing because, what were they watching? [It was] like a theatre. Just before the finish line, Michael gets the position and wins it, and then on the podium, he gives the first-place position again to Rubens.

“It was a mess, it was just bad publicity for F1. Luckily we haven’t had that in recent years, but now McLaren is going in that way, because they’re trying to orchestrate it.

“What happens, in the next race, if there’s a slow stop for Oscar, but he’s two positions behind Lando in the race? Is Lando going to wait for him then to give the position back?”

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McLaren’s controversy at Monza proves why F1 must ban team orders

Following McLaren’s team orders, Piastri has lost three points in the championship fight. It could prove costly with eight races to go, as a similar incident at Monza could happen again.

Slow pit stops are a part of racing, and McLaren changing the outcome of a Grand Prix after a mistake they made paints them in a bad light. David Coulthard accused McLaren of ‘manipulating’ the race by telling Piastri to give up P2.

The Italian GP highlighted why F1 must ban team orders to improve the sport for the fans. The audience wants to see racing action until the end, with the backlash towards McLaren at Monza being evidence of that.

The Woking outfit want the championship battle to be fair, with Norris and Piastri being given the freedom to fight throughout the season. But the way to keep things equal is to let them battle under any circumstance without intervening.